I guess it forces us to think more and more reflectively, making our plan for the next year, again, and again, and again! Reflect, plan, evaluate. Seems everyone around me is thinking about where they currently are in life, what their goals are, where they want to go, and so excited for the year ahead. I think its awesome to reflect, and this blog has been a great sounding board for me over the years.

I haven’t always blogged during Chinese New Years, but this is my 5th Chinese New Years here:

• 2008 was the year of the Rat (Mouse)
• 2009 was the year of the Bull
• 2010 was the year of the Tiger
• 2011 was the year of the Rabbit
• 2012 will be the year of the dragon

Or, for the full calendar, I google’d it and got Apples for teachers official calendar:

Year	Chinese New Year Begins	Animal Sign
2008	February 7	Rat
2009	January 26	Ox
2010	February 14	Tiger
2011	February 3	Rabbit
2012	January 23	Dragon
2013	February 10	Snake
2014	January 31	Horse
2015	February 19	Sheep
2016	February 8	Monkey
2017	January 28	Rooster
2018	February 16	Dog
2019	February 5	Pig

  

hot pot, with foreign friends

The “eve” before Chinese new years was this past Sunday night, Jan 22nd, and I headed over to my foreign friend Andy Blahnik’s house, with his wife Rica (so technically its not foreign friends, she is Chinese!), and they hosted me and a few of our friends to hot pot at their home in Coastal City, Shenzhen. Photo is here in the gallery, we watched CCTV (Chinese TV) and similar to a countdown for Western New Years, they had TV hosts (the guy was wearing awesome sparkly suit jacket), dancers, singers, and interviews.

And for anyone who has been in China on or around Chinese new years, they have tons of fireworks. Its a bit of a quick amateur video I made, but this is an example of just how crazy it gets here. This is right outside the balcony. These are not professional fireworks that are regulated in America…they sell firecrackers right on the street and they are decent size, as you can see in the video.

Pretty cool video, but probably not the safest position I have been in:

A few of my friends have taken trips today, Chinese new years day (today, Monday Jan 23, 2012), as the costs are the lowest anytime of the year. As many Chinese wouldn’t travel on New Years Day, or Christmas Day, just like Americans wouldn’t, demand is lowest on this travel day…allowing my expat friends to benefit.

But on top of that….Shenzhen is an empty city….as its a young city, and most Chinese don’t have family roots (culture) here, and during holidays they go to their hometown.

Today I was lucky enough to find a friend, Danny Liu, CEO of the LA warehouse I am using for ecommerce fulfillment, invited me to his home for lunch today. I was making dumplings, a northern chinese dish and tradition on New Years Day with him and his wife today.

A nice thing he said is that neighbors can count as family, when family is far away from home during the holidays. He has many nearby neighbors and other foreign colleagues who didn’t have friends or family to spend it with.

Rest of the Week China is still closed

Even though Chinese New Years Day has passed, rest of the week inside China is basically closed down. Next door in Hong Kong, the holiday is much shorter, from Sunday, the 22nd until Wednesday the 25th, but inside mainland China, people were leaving basically the beginning of last week (16th) and will be coming back in the beginning of next week (Jan 30th). This is in regards to “white collar” office jobs, factories close even earlier and open even later, giving factory workers time to take budget means to their hometown (sleeper buses up to 40 hours long, or more!)

So I’m excited to catch up with emails and work (tons of reading and writing and project plans) during this quiet week. We call it “caving” in the expat community.

I have been celebrating Christmas in China for the past 4 years now (almost 5), well, technically last year I crossed over to spend Christmas in Hong Kong…as I almost was here in Christmas 2007, but Spent it with my family in Florida – I have kept up with at least a quick post each Christmas the past few years, some others:

http://blog.michaelmichelini.com/2009/12/2nd-christmas-in-china.html

http://blog.michaelmichelini.com/2008/12/merry-christmas-from-china.html

But yea, in China, Christmas isn’t recognized as a holiday, but each year, shops and city governments decorate more for it (they say sales go up in the shops that have Christmas decoration). The Chinese people respect foreigners here and they always check up on me in what I am doing. In 2009, I actually worked on Christmas day…but this year, it was a Sunday and I am getting better at relaxing a bit more.

So for the most part, foreigners here find a bar or restaurant that has some sort of Christmas dinner special, this year I hung out at my buddy Marshall’s bar, Jordans – below is the info:

Cheers & Jordans to host Christmas Buffet Lunch together on Dec. 24th

For those Shenzheners who are planning to be in town for Christmas, Cheers and Jordans bar in Shekou (rose Garden II) invite you to bring your family and enjoy a delicious Christmast lunch.

We will be serving buffet style on Dec. 24 at noon the following:

- Turkey
- Ham
- Stuffing w/Gravy
- Cranberry Sauce
- Mashed Potato
- Caesar Salad
- Broccoli
- Fresh Fruit
- and for dessert… warm Apple Pie!

Everything will be homemade and delicious and we hope to see you there!

Cost: Adults 150rmb and kids under 8 are 50rmb

Its all about spending good times with good people, maybe I am a bit bummed out seeing friends leaving China….but I still have quality friends and connections here.

I also just like to have a day of rest and emails slowing down from bombarding my inbox! Cheers!

After about an hour bus ride, I arrived to meet the geekcook crew, we drove to their office and warehouse to finalize which geekcook products to first enter usa market and ship to the LA, USA warehouse. It was good to meet his staff, it was also interesting to note that his mom and dad were also contributing to the business, as well as friends and coworkers and business partner’s wife and children on the scene. Its like a big family, not just a company. He knows from my blog that I have a mom, dad, and sister in my immediate family so he let me choose some gifts for each of them to take back on my USA trip. I told him I’ll take a group photo of them each wearing the t-shirts..

yes, we are digital geeks…haha.

We then went walked to a street bbq that Friday night, David is pushing me to learn Chinese more! and that once I am better at Chinese he can offer me a lot more opportunity…and there will be big long term benefits to me for dedicating and investing time in Chinese.

We both agree and understand the political and cultural differences between USA and China….and we both agree that the future of the world will continue to be based on these 2 superpowers bridging their relationship and business networks….. always fun discussions.

Headed back around 1am to sleep at the company dormitory and wakeup bright and early saturday morning, 8 am! There office and dormitory is on a government industrial park focusing on design and brands. David tells me a couple years ago it was a factory for Altec Lansing speakers. Now the current rich Chinese government is giving very low rent to companies like David (geekcook) to build up their own brand and marketing and distribution.

Saturday the fun began right away. I saw that we would be going to a water park on the outskirts of Guangzhou city, called Da Feng Men which would be a mix of hiking to the river dock and then rafting down the river.

I got to spend time with some of the children, which were very jolly and curious – healthy kids. One of them, Leo, first talked about the sept 11 tragedy when he heard I was from USA. Made me wonder how much its talked about in Chinese school.

I wasn’t advised/allowed to take my laptop with me….never got a clear answer but it would have been difficult to carry and store anyway….but I’m so addicted….it was a necessary break. And my huawei android tablet is giving me so many problems, so gmail sync issue and I couldn’t check emails. But maybe this was a needed problem, to help me get away.

I’m blogging a bunch of photos from the hike….didn’t get to take pics in the river….too wet! It was a pretty refreshing and exhausting day…but being a Saturday the line was soo long, maybe 1 hour wait, standing only.

We spent the night, about 8 of us, in a small village outside of Guangzhou called Zheng Guo, and being a foursquare addict, I couldn’t find any locations at all in the whole village….David helped me add one at the street bbq. The amazing thing about China, even after living here 4 years and being open to trying any food, there is still aways some crazy new food dish that I haven’t heard of or eaten. This time it was duck mouth…..like strips of the beak chopped up. Rather tough, but did have a ok taste. David also mentioned he was 22 years old and had caught a live snake in the woods and cooked it that night and ate it….crazy.

We rented rooms at a farmer’s inn….not a hotel, but really a home owned by a farmer and he has the 2nd and 3rd floor of his home setup as a hostel / budget inn. One bathroom on the floor, 3 rooms, and a common family room. Very relaxed….the whole village was maybe 3 blocks wide, right along side a freshwater lake. Some took a night swim, but I just relaxed and breathed the fresh air….hadn’t had fresh air like that in a while living in this big metropolis….

Today (Sunday) we woke up early (again) and used our own inflatable rafts and went up and down the river a few hours….wish my Tablet hadn’t been giving me problems or I’d have more photos.

We had a nice lunch today, alongside a massive wedding reception…I also get tons of stares being the only foreigner all weekend, but I’m used to it, and also I agree with others, Chinese people are nice, they are just curious about foreigners.

I hope to grow my cooperation with geekcook “family”, they really are a modern and young Chinese company, building a brand, and also standing for something in China. They just wished me well on my bus trip back to Shenzhen and also my USA trip. David tells me to say hi to Obama for him. hah.

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But I’m a human being. I try to openly delegate, directly connect people in the organization…to not be the piece of the puzzle that if I get sick the pyramid crumbles…but still, such a small business the people running the business are the most valuable assets.

And running around like a madman in Philippines….delayed flights, boats not going for days on end…..hours of sitting in a taxi in metro manila during traffic. I have definitely gotten way more patient since coming to Asia from America….but even still, my nerves still get shocked with inefficiency in communication systems and transportation chaos.

Sadly, most people never see both sides…I do remember being that frustrated American businessman never having come to China or other parts of Asia. Its a developing economy, constant contruction, such rapid growth in infrastructure that there is downtime. Or there is such a glut of people who have no motivation to work to improve the system. It will take the current youth in these countries to have the global exposure and mindset to better develop these systems…the internet and communication platforms will better expose cultures.

Again, I am just more aware and appreciative of the daily frustrations in the Philippines – brownouts, high electricity costs, massive traffic in Manila, inefficient public transportation, taxi hustlers, it wears on people and in a way creates and environment where the harder you work, the harder it is to maintain, the forces are against you.

I’m saying this as I charge my mobile phone in restaurants while eating dinner, struggling to catch a wifi connection in a free wifi zone (the signal is there, but connection just doesnt work….), and sitting in traffic tweeting from my mobile phone. If you stress about it, you will get an ulser…

Thursday night I will be back in Hong Kong, where the internet is fast, electricity is abundant, and transportation systems are efficient.

Location still matters, and after this holiday I am ready to really get down to business!

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I just can’t seem to stop working and traveling on the road,constant traveling since maybe March last year. Its addicting, and once you create a work environment where location isn’t as important, so long as you have internet (unrestricted, open internet preferred…) and electricity you can get the majority of your work done.

Its been since January that I’ve been to the Philippines, and there is a ton of business to attend to….as well as hopefully some relaxation and a much needed holiday…..even my staff and customers are screaming at me to take a damn holiday and refresh / relax for a bit.

Bringing some chocolates from Hong Kong (Marie advised this is a very popular gift) and will spread the love throughout the first day or two (as I’m sure its gonna melt in my bag extremely quickly down there)

I’ll probably keep on blogging, though I hope I don’t get too many jealous comments from those who are at the office while I’m working and relaxing on the beach!

I guess I gradually got used to be away from home, sleepover weekends with my grade school friends, boy scout summer camps, Italy culture trip in high school, going away for college, working in New York.

But those still allowed me to spend the holidays with mom and dad. Put up with some traffic and holiday scrambling to get home for some good cooking and sharing stories.

Now it seems I get home once a year, if not more.

I get used to it, more and more. Keep my family and friends in my mind when times get hard.  Pushing myself for them.

And grandma, Nana, I miss those weekend trips to your house, spending sometimes even a week during the summer there.  Picking rasberries, playing badminton, watching baseball with Granddad, Papa.

One of my favorite memories with my mom was getting ready to go to school in the morning. It was like preparing for “battle” or something. We would wave goodbye to dad from the window as he backed out of the driveway, my sister and I would finish packing our bags, and by 8 or 8:15am we had to be out the door to walk to school.

And we would run around the house certain days, and we would sing

GO, go, go-go-go-go.
Fight, fight, fight-fight-fight-fight
Win, win, win-win-win-win
GO – FIGHT – WIN

Other awesome memories were summer school at home (I know, right?). I don’t know how we pulled it off, but mom and dad arranged one of our church members, Janet, who was a teacher at a really fancy, rich school, to come certain days in the summer to our home and do “schooltime”. It was only a couple hours a day, two or three times a week (if that?) but I remember how much my sister and I loved to have school there. It was because it was more interactive, more fun…..learning was fun I remember. Discovering.

And then another great memory was also during our summer vacation, matinee movie time. Matinee movie is the first movie when the movie theater opens, and its at a deep discount because its like 12 or 1pm in the afternoon, so not a popular time. We would get a few of these per month (maybe) and mom, Jocelyn (sister) and I would hop into the VW Rabbit (yes, its a car!) and drive to the local theater. Driving in the summer heat, parking in the parking lot walking up to the 12 screen cinema that upn entrance was freezing cold, smelling like popcorn and candy. The other kids running around screaming waiting for the staff to open the velvet rope so we can get seated. And it was actually not during, but after the movie that was great too. Normally we’d drive to McDonalds, and on the drive, mom would make us reflect on the movie. To discuss our favorite part, answer questions about what the movie really meant. I think that critical thinking after the movie was always helpful….get our minds thinking about the meaning of the movie.

Oh, and McDonalds….yes, I know its not healthy, and its marketing this fatty food to kids. But the happy meals, the playground, the other kids in the restaurant. The TOY inside the happy meal.

Life was really good. I miss those times mom. I love you.

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Interesting way for me to spend my Easter holiday!

For those curious, as far as how these countries celebrate Easter: In Hong Kong, they do have both Friday and Monday off, while in America, there isn’t any official weekday off, simply celebrated on Sunday. In Mainland China, its not recognized at all, and its business as usual.

But in Hong Kong, I see no signs of the Easter bunny, but while walking around this Saturday afternoon with Leon, I did bump into some sales girls dressed up in bunny suits, so today’s blog photo is rather humorous to me.

Religion has always been strange to me, my father is Baptist and my mother Roman Catholic. I was going to Baptist Church with the family up until I was about 11 or 12 years old….and I remember a fight in the family home about my mom wanting me and my sister to be Catholic and get baptized sooner (in Catholic Christianity, you’re baptized as a child, but Baptists they wait until the teenage years). So I converted from Baptist to Catholic when I was around 12 years old…had a lot of catch up CCD Catholic classes, meetings with the Roman Catholic priest, and was quickly baptized to catch up with the other Catholics in the community.

As I got older, I think during high school years, I attended Church less and less. In college, freshman year I did find a local Catholic Church in Hoboken, New Jersey, but I only went for a few Sunday masses before getting wrapped up in college life.

Moving to China….well it makes it much more difficult. I have ran into some Christian communities in Shenzhen, China, but it seems underground. I am not familiar with how Churches are treated in China, but I cannot imagine the government likes them.

When I spend time in the Philippines, I am surrounded much more by Christianity. The team of workers there now are busy this whole week for Holy traditions, and its been rather hard to work with them. Filipinos definitely are very strict in their Christian beliefs, I think mostly influenced during the time it was rules by the Spaniards.

Life in Asia…again, during each holiday it make me miss my family and my home. I remember taking a trip to my grandparent’s house after Easter Sunday mass and having easter baskets waiting. The hollow chocolate bunnies, the cadburry eggs, and those marshmallow sticky bunnies. But even being back in America, life is different now then it was when I was a child anyway.

Happy Easter to all, I hope the Easter Bunny left a nice big basket of treats for you. haha.

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Woke up bright and early Thursday morning (6:30am) to head from Hong Kong over to Dong Guan, China to the Five Islands ecommerce center. I don’t mean to be an ignorant foreigner in China….but this holiday is annoying to me…..its just so long…………..I am a workaholic…..I am an “entrepreneur”…..and one half of my business is closed down, while the buy side is banging on my door the whole time. I am just so excited to get things going, make deals, create opportunity…and its in a standstill for 2 to almost 3 weeks solid.

So on the first day back to work, the factory has their traditional south China Buddhist influenced ceremony. It involves utilizing the small temple (picture here in the post) and each person showing respect and blessing.  We then eat some roast pig and duck….drink a little wine (yes at around 10am on a Thursday)….

So many red pockets (envelopes) even on the first day back the bosses are passing around envelops of cash.  This is definitely something I noticed more in Hong Kong style than in Shenzhen or Guangzhou where I have spent time and know other business friends.

Again, you have to understand, China does not have a uniform way of celebrating the holiday….so many different ways between north and south, various provinces……and even more broken down to cities or groups of cities.

I am just really excited that the country of China is back open for business….I have been chatting to friends (via QQ) listening to stories of their hometown, their wishes and dreams for the next year (rabbit year), and everyone is rested, refreshed, and excited to MAKE SOME MONEY.

Definitely a motivator here….Chinese people are really driven to succeed.

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Last year was the year of the tiger and I was excited going into last year too…only to quickly have to shuffle my whole operations all over Philippines, Thailand, China….and an exhausting (but eye opening) year of travel and networking…..

I had dinner in Hong Kong last night, in SoHo, with friends Dave, Cat, Laura, and their Swedish friend Isabella to celebrate Chinese New Years Eve. Cat is a rabbit year (1987), and she tells me coming from a year of the Tiger to the year of the rabbit is a great time. She explains that during the year of the tiger, its a restless year, lots of changes. This is good as it prepares us to “cash in” the next year, the year of the rabbit.

I think most of us have had a rough time from 2009 to 2010….and are glad to be in a fresh new year of 2011. I am definitely one of those people. I do appreciate all the travels and networking…i hope Cat is right!!

But its not just LUCK! its hard work, positioning…experience, with a mix of “who you know”. This will be a great year

stay positive.

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This year was a split between Shenzhen, China for Christmas eve, “chilling” at Cheers bar with my friend Marshall, doing some bar hopping in the area…..and then today, Christmas day crossing the Shenzhen border into Hong Kong, with my friend Andy Blahnik and his now wife Rica! Three of us took it easy, grocery shopping in the afternoon and then cooking turkey (still in the oven now!)

Original plans this Christmas was to be in the Philippines, but last minute changes due to quick progress with photograph.com. Getting excited going into 2011, and have to prioritize things…..next year Philippines Christmas for sure.

I am just lucky to have so many great friends, all over the world….and the story, and the future continues as we move into 2011…

I am really getting too familiar with the local transportation systems in Manila! Worked Friday night and then took a jeepney to Cubao. Talking to the barkers, found out that the bus to Dau was at THE OTHER Cubao station, next to Edsa, so had to take a bus (aka Suicide bus as they drive so fast) up the road. I’m just jumping on and off moving buses without flinching anymore….

STANDING room only on the bus to Dau, but didn’t want to wait the 30 minutes for the next bus, as my phone battery died and I didn’t want to have Bas waiting. Arriving there around 1pm, Bas, his dad and uncle were waiting at the Dau, Pampanga bus station in his jeep! HAah, that jeep is awesome! Shopped around for last minute birthday party items.

What an AWESOME birthday party, they had rented the common area in the residential complex they live, a couple clowns, KTV, fireworks, big buffet. Bas’s family was also there, mom, dad, aunt and uncle. Lucky we had some tequila and margheritas too. Fireworks were a bit scary…some misfires into bushes….and using a sprite bottle, or red horse beer bottle, as a launchpad….but lucky no one got hurt.

I am sure Charlotte may not remember this when she gets older…but she can look back at the videos, images, and blog / facebook! Its amazing she’ll grow up with her mommy’s entries on Charlotte Victoria website…..and get access to her own facebook….again this makes me think how OLD I am getting…these kids these days will grow up surrounded by internet, social media…..who knows what the next 10 years will bring.

Party went on till about 7pm, cleanup time….and then off to grown up time in the bars! Just a few of us, I wanted

to bus back to Manila at night, but was warned by Maritess and Bas that I’d be robbed if I take a 2am bus…..so ended up staying over.  Just living on the edge…like a local!  I guess its financial, but its also experience,

creativity…..helps spark my writing inspiration……maybe i’m taking it too far, but really, buses and jeeps aren’t t

hat strange to me!  I mentioned to Marie that the <a href=”http://blog.michaelmichelini.com/2010/10/worst-bus-ride-ever-globally.html“>worst bus ride ever</a> was in New York….not in the Philippines….really….that is a weakness of America…PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.  Everyone there DRIVES THEIR OWN CAR.  Uses their gas, insurance, car loans…its part of the system to spend money…why not have better public transportation?

Anyway, it was a good weekend in Dau and Angeles, Philippines….saw baby Charlotte growing older…walking, talking…I’m sure she’ll grow up to be a special girl.  Surrounded by blogging, social media, internet….international cultures….travel….amazing to me!

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Foreigners think I’m crazy, and even local Filipinos think I’m insane….but I take local transportation. I have been here since Friday and I still have not taken a single taxi yet this trip. They are hard to deal with for the most part, but also…its the “easy” way. I want to learn the local way. I want to feel how it is to live daily life in the Philippines.

And life is HARD here!! I do see some beautiful malls, but the public transportation is horrible. The subway is called the MRT, and it is constantly jammed with people….I think worse then subways I had seen in Beijing, China. They need security guards to hold back people from crushing into the overfilled trains.

Pollution is rough…I have blown my nose many times and had black soot in the tissue….walking through construction zones, crammed with too many people and having exhausts from trucks blowing into my face with dirt and sand coming from the backs of their tires.

Tricycles zipping around, loud motorcycles. Police inspection checkpoints into most major stores and malls. The list of what you see on the streets can go on and on.

Yet somehow people stay positive, stay strong. There is a photo I took today of a mother and her daughter across from me on the jeepnee. The girl was so sweet, eating her chips (yea, not the most healthy diets…) and giggling. All the while looking out the window there is traffic, police holding large guns, “barkers” yelling to get customers into the next jeepney. And this mother and daughter calmly and noticeably contently enjoying the time together. The ride was about 30 minutes, and you could see them taking turns sleeping….mom napping when I took the pic, later the daughter leaning into the mother and getting some rest.

I really wonder how I could sleep on a jeepney…..maybe if I grew up in this environment I would be used to it.

TO BE USED TO IT. to be used to living in this day in and day out.

Then others kind of say I am not really seeing the real life. I mean, I can say this is fun and idea-sparking for me….but I can just hop on a plane and come and go when I please. I am not “trapped” in this life every single day.

So many hate the commute between Quezon City and Makati. Quezon City is where the majority of staff for call centers live, and Makati is the main “downtown” for call centers and outsourcing. They can spend up to an hour and a half each way, between buses, traffic, and MRT trains. Thats 3 hours a day…and this is in no way a relaxing commute. When I have taken these trains and buses, its not been as easy as when I’m in New York or Shenzhen, China…..these are so jam packed all day around that I can never get a chance to open my laptop to write some blogs or proposals and emails…..instead I am forced to only try to use my mobile phone to check some emails quickly…..but even then I am afraid it may get stolen if I am showing off my phone too much in the open.

If I had to make that commute each day….man, I can barely handle it once! It would wear me down more then when I was stuck in the daily grind back in New York between 2003 to 2007….I need to do something when I’m traveling….write, read, make logical thinking inside my brain. But this type of commuting seems mind-numbing…..

And am I supposed to support this type of living? Open a call center in Makati, hire workers in Quezon City, and put them in that daily ratrace commute? seems horrible life and why would I want to support that? And to put them behind a cubicle, count their hours, their time management, and bean count their work performance.

There has to be something else, something better……

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It was cool to catch up with my friends I grew up with.  Man, we are getting OLD! Talking about old crazy stories, tail gating at Dave Matthews, house parties, school teachers.  Memory lane.  And like we had done since we had all remembered, maybe 6th grade it started, we played a game of RISK – the game of global domination.  This game has had a lot of history with all of us, some take it more serious then others (normally Brian and I are most “passionate” about the game and the strategy)  In a way, we are all still “kids” and a bit immature when we all get together.  I guess its how we know each other, and therefore our childhood is our connection.  Sure the rest of the crew hangs out more when I’m away, and I’m not sure if they act the same way together with or without me.  Its just great to see them after so long, and getting together seems like nothing has changed and we still know each other so well.

Risk game ended at 3am to be re-continued around 10 am the next day.  Hiking around Brian’s new house and land – its massive amount of acres and he is still determining where the “dividing line” between his land and his distant neighbors.  Deer tracks were all over, maybe Brian can hunt on his “LAND” at some point in the future, its like another world.

We (my hometown friends) didn’t grow up this far in the woods, we grew up in Hartford, Connecticut, a rather smaller city, more like suburb, and had neighbors, multi-level houses.  But Brian said this years ago, and he actually did it.  So cool to have so much land, have a photo of the main house here to the left.

Wish I could spend more time in Connecticut, wanted to see my Uncle Bill, and go to a Boy Scout meeting, but moving down to NYC and doing business there – attending an SEO internet conference Tuesday and Wednesday, gotta “hustle” (yes MikeMo, that one is for you)

Sunday night here, sitting at Andrew’s apartment in New Britain, both on our laptops, watching sunday night football, feels like a few years ago all over again.  Great that I can come back to my home and talk to my friends like nothing has changed.

LOVE , HATED, BUT NEVER IGNORED.

Being an american overseas, I get some cheat shot jokes at me. Fat, lazy, overeating, spoiled americans. haha. Its all in good fun (normally) and I have learned to accept it.

And while I have complained about banking, citizenship, taxes, etc it still doesn’t compare to the benefits – or what it represents.  America is still generally a free country – websites are generally unregulated, can say pretty much anything we want to anyone we want about anything.  Opportunities are generally equal for those who are smart and work hard.

My friend Alan Brackett  posted on facebook -

Cheesy and patriotic, but I’ve always liked this song: “While the storm clouds gather far across the sea, Let us swear allegiance to a land that’s free, Let us all be grateful for a land so fair, As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCavKL2zdjM
Kate Smith – God Bless America
www.youtube.com
Kate Smith – God Bless America
Jul 3, 7:25 PM

So thought this was a fitting blog entry being July 4th.

And it takes me being outside of USA for over 3 years to really appreciate it. I think so many Americans don’t appreciate what they have, and complain about so many small things. WAKE UP, look at the whole world, and realize the gift you have been give and maximize that!

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I hope my pictures aren’t getting too boring – more empty office pics below. but this is about all i see each day as I come to work during the holiday…

But in a way, a holiday this long makes everyone reflect on what they are doing with their lives, and what they want to do in the future. So many discussions with people on chats and in dinners these days about how they like or dislike their job, the way their career is going, the business they are in. Its like a fresh start for some, as they don’t return to their old companies after the holiday.

This is scary for business owners, as some factories and offices have some of their top workers not return to the office after the holiday….without even a notice. The worker just decides they need a change in their life, want to stay in their hometown with family, it doesnt even have to be about money! (well, usually it is, heh)

But this holiday has allowed me to focus on USA business. I’m on 3rd shift (almost) waking up around 1 or 2pm in China, and working until about 3 or 4 am. Afternoons are emails, accounting / financing, and planning. Then normally a dinner or drink with s ome friends in shenzhen – then back to the office to crank out some phone calls or USA hour type work.

Wondering if I should stick on this schedule after the holiday or not……..

Seems more and more I do USA business – its just what I am strong at, and I should focus on my strength. Let the staff manage their projects in the morning, I come in after lunch, check on progress, do my emails and planning with them. Grab dinner, then do USA calls.

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